Vix

“FUCK.”  I SLAM MY FISTS into the steering wheel.

She’s not answering her phone or my texts.  I’m heading to her apartment now but I can’t shake the feeling that my entire world is crumbling around my feet.

Two Christmases.

Two losses.

I’m not losing her.  I don’t know what happened to make her run, but she’s going to figure out if she leaves, I’m going with her, because her problems are my problems now.  Anything we face, we figure out together. 

Together.

I screech to a stop in front of Mrs. Fuller’s Pastie Palace, over which is Eve’s apartment. The Fullers have lived in Houghton for generations and her family gets their tree from us every year.  Well, they did.

Up until this one.

I buzz Eve’s apartment, but there’s nothing.

I get a screwdriver out of the truck and pry the wooden door open that leads to the stairs.  I’ll pay for the damages and none of the cops in this town would fault me. They know me and my family and I’ll make it right with Mrs. Fuller.

“Eve!”  I bang on her door but get no reply.

I don’t give it even another thirty seconds. Instead, I give her door the same treatment as the outside one.

Inside her apartment, my heart floods with sadness.  It’s neat, but sparse.  All the furniture is old.  And not the good old of antiques and collectables.  If that was her thing then I could understand.  But when I think of her living here...  I want so much more for her. 

I want to be the one to give it to her.

I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts. Mrs. Fuller is in there and I punch up her number, waiting for what feels like an eternity for her to answer.  I don’t even give her a chance to say a greeting.

“Hi.  I’m so sorry to bother you on Christmas, Mrs. Fuller.  This is Christopher Vixon from Vixon’s Tree Farm.”

“Oh, hello, Christopher!  So nice to hear from you.  We missed our tree this year.  Is everything okay?  How’s your mother?”

“Mom is fine. Thanks for asking.  Look, I hate to ask, but I’m friends with Eve Cupid, she rents the apartment above your store.”

“Ah, yes.  We are so sorry she decided to move.”

“Yes, about that.  I’m just afraid something’s happened to her.  She’s not here and not answering her phone.”

“Well, she texted me, told me she’d leave the keys to her apartment in the lockbox and send someone to move the rest of her belongings by the end of the month.  Said she had to take a flight home today.  Some emergency back in Baltimore?  I was sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

Baltimore.

“Thanks, Mrs. Fuller.  I’ve got to go.”

I finish up and I’m back in my truck screaming toward the airport, pulling up all the departures to Baltimore on my phone.

There’s two flights out today. One leaves in thirty minutes and at the speed I’m doing I’m ten minutes from the airport. The other leaves in three hours.  I’m praying that’s the one she’s on.

I race along the icy roads, thankful the weather has left them so quiet.  I doubt there are any cops about today, and if they are they’ll just have to chase my ass down because I’m not stopping unless there’s a bullet in my chest.

Even then, I’ll do what I can to keep going.

When I get to the airport, I don’t even bother parking the car.  I just pull up outside the entrance and leave the engine running as I jump out and run for the doors.

“Hey, you can’t leave your car—hey, stop!”

I ignore the one security guard who isn’t on check-in duty.  What’s he going to do?  I’m clearly no danger and he’s been left working the Christmas shift on his own.  But the only way to get through to the flight lounge is to buy a ticket, so I head for the desk, glancing at the departures board and cursing how long it’s taken to get here.  Even with only a short queue, it takes a frustratingly long time to get to the front and buy a boarding pass.

I’m too late. 

By the time I’m through security, if she’s on that first flight she’s already gone.  Deciding to cut my losses, I turn for the other gate, my heart clutching in my chest as I drop my head and make a dead run in that direction.  The other flight may not leave for another two and a half hours, but I need to know right now if she’s here.

I’m out of breath when I get to the gate, huffing as I go up to the counter and try to force a smile for the attendant, to make me look at least a little more human.

“Hi.”  I know I look like a madman, but in this small town, airports are a bit more friendly than big cities.

“Hi.  Can I help you?”  The cheerful redhead smiles back.

“Please.  I’m on this flight.”  I wave my boarding pass.  “But can you please tell me...I can’t find my friend who is supposed to be on the flight with me.  Can you look up and see if she’s gotten her boarding pass yet?  I can’t reach her and I’m a little worried...the ice and everything, you know?”

She eyes me for a moment.  “Are you Christopher Vixon?”

I tilt my head and realize she looks familiar.  I look at her nametag... ‘Marjorie’...

“Yeah.” The light bulb goes off.  “You’re Marjorie Klemkowsky.”

She grins, clearly pleased that I remembered.  “Yep.  You were a senior when I was a freshman.”

“How are you?” I stay pleasant, knowing I have a better shot at getting the information I need this way.

“Good.  What’s going on?  You’re going to Baltimore?”

“Supposed to, yes. But Can you do me a huge favor?  My friend, like I said...would you look her up?”

I give her Eve’s name, but she doesn’t find anyone with her first or last name on this flight.  Hoping our rapport means she won’t get suspicious, I ask her to check the one that’s already left.

“Well, there’s a Gertrude Cupid that checked in and got a boarding pass for the flight that’s already in the air.  Isn’t that a coincidence?”